Philip demonstrated his love to Elizabeth by showing up, helping out, and chopping up Marilyn, but the emotional toll it took on him was monstrous. That last shot of him sitting alone with that horrible, hopeless expression on his face was hard to witness for me. He looked like a man who has accepted that whatever he hoped for in life is lost to him forever. Elizabeth still won’t give up her mission or her death sentence, so it could very well be her getting shot and choking down the cyanide pill the next time. He did get valuable intel to pass along to Oleg, but at that moment I don’t think he cared.
I was glad at least to see Elizabeth back in emotional harmony with Philip. She knows he acted out of love for her and she knows the toll it took on him. She’s never been one to be effusive with her feelings, but all the bitter outrage she’d been banking up inside because he wasn't there for her is gone. The tender way that she reached out to touch him again, and then her returning to the travel agency to check on him was her way of saying, “I love you.” Of course, she also told him that she’s still going to kill herself if necessary, so there’s that. Having seen the death of Harvest and Marilyn, every word and gesture between them now feels like it could be the very last time they speak to each other or touch each other. So sad.
Paige, pitiful, earnest, ridiculous Paige who can’t even pull off wearing 80s style power shoulder pads in her clothes without looking like a pathetic mini-me version of her mother, admits that she isn’t afraid of death but is only afraid of being alone. She had no friends (like her Mom) and no purpose in life other than feeling a vague sense of ‘wanting to make a difference.’ She sees the injustices embedded in Western capitalism, but rather than embrace the peaceful, ‘help one person at a time’ approach offered by Pastor Tim, she commits to a murderous ideology that she clearly does not understand one tiny bit, and pledges the rest of her life to supporting a failed cause for a terrible, failed state. Paige finally achieved her dream. She’s become Elizabeth. She thinks she’ll find a marvelous love of her life companion in espionage just like mom did, and Elizabeth lacked the courage to tell her that the marriage was just a sham assignment too. Elizabeth gave her one last chance to walk away, but Paige commits her life (and death) to the cause and is now officially setting out to infiltrate the State Department. She is utterly screwed. How sad.
Even sadder to me though, was the moment that Henry essentially hung up on Philip’s late night apology call. Henry has always been the outlier, the overlooked, quasi-neglected kid. Unlike Paige who became an emotional doormat, Henry reacted to his weird upbringing by becoming resourceful. If his parents weren’t around to be there for him, he’d make his own way. He got used to his parents being absent, but that doesn’t mean that he liked it, as was made evident by his conversation with ‘uncle’ Stan. I think that having Philip suddenly vanish on him again was the last straw for Henry. He’s had enough of apologies and excuses.
As for Stan finally getting suspicious of his neighbors again… FINALLY. I know that the showrunners had to hold back this moment until the very end of the series for plotting purposes, but Stan is finally putting together all the little clues that he’s noticed over the years but ignored because of his friendship with Philip. The biggest thing, of course, is the weird hours and absences. He had no way of seeing inside their house, but over the years he’s noticed them coming and going in the middle of the night all the time. That’s enough to make anybody suspicious of their neighbors, much less an FBI agent. Hearing Henry said that his parents just ditched him and Paige randomly with no babysitter or relative to call on is also suspicious because that’s simply not how typical suburban parents behave. Again, you don’t have to be an FBI agent to be alarmed at the thought that your neighbors are leaving their little kids left alone in the house overnight or even for days. That's just not normal. Then to hear that the Jennings have no relatives whatsoever, except for an aunt that only Paige has seen (maybe), is also weird. Granted, not as weird as leaving your little kids alone while you jaunt off in the middle of the night, but still, out of the norm. All these little things, combined with a case involving a white couple that reminded Stan of a similar experience when Elizabeth mysteriously wasn’t around, and combining that with William’s dying words about the happy couple with the pretty wife and couple of kids living the American dream… I can see why Stan’s suspicions were aroused again. He didn’t find anything from his quick search of their house, but he’s definitely thinking about all the little ways that the Jennings simply don’t add up, and that is dangerous. Any little clue now could lead him back to the Jennings. It could be something as small as a cigarette butt that Elizabeth dropped at the scene. We saw him looking at the butts she left at the house. It’s tiny clues like these combined with experience and intuition that make Stan dangerous to them. However that turns out is going to be sad because I think that Stan and Philip are genuinely friends, maybe the only real, non-work friends that each other has.
no subject
I was glad at least to see Elizabeth back in emotional harmony with Philip. She knows he acted out of love for her and she knows the toll it took on him. She’s never been one to be effusive with her feelings, but all the bitter outrage she’d been banking up inside because he wasn't there for her is gone. The tender way that she reached out to touch him again, and then her returning to the travel agency to check on him was her way of saying, “I love you.” Of course, she also told him that she’s still going to kill herself if necessary, so there’s that. Having seen the death of Harvest and Marilyn, every word and gesture between them now feels like it could be the very last time they speak to each other or touch each other. So sad.
Paige, pitiful, earnest, ridiculous Paige who can’t even pull off wearing 80s style power shoulder pads in her clothes without looking like a pathetic mini-me version of her mother, admits that she isn’t afraid of death but is only afraid of being alone. She had no friends (like her Mom) and no purpose in life other than feeling a vague sense of ‘wanting to make a difference.’ She sees the injustices embedded in Western capitalism, but rather than embrace the peaceful, ‘help one person at a time’ approach offered by Pastor Tim, she commits to a murderous ideology that she clearly does not understand one tiny bit, and pledges the rest of her life to supporting a failed cause for a terrible, failed state. Paige finally achieved her dream. She’s become Elizabeth. She thinks she’ll find a marvelous love of her life companion in espionage just like mom did, and Elizabeth lacked the courage to tell her that the marriage was just a sham assignment too. Elizabeth gave her one last chance to walk away, but Paige commits her life (and death) to the cause and is now officially setting out to infiltrate the State Department. She is utterly screwed. How sad.
Even sadder to me though, was the moment that Henry essentially hung up on Philip’s late night apology call. Henry has always been the outlier, the overlooked, quasi-neglected kid. Unlike Paige who became an emotional doormat, Henry reacted to his weird upbringing by becoming resourceful. If his parents weren’t around to be there for him, he’d make his own way. He got used to his parents being absent, but that doesn’t mean that he liked it, as was made evident by his conversation with ‘uncle’ Stan. I think that having Philip suddenly vanish on him again was the last straw for Henry. He’s had enough of apologies and excuses.
As for Stan finally getting suspicious of his neighbors again… FINALLY. I know that the showrunners had to hold back this moment until the very end of the series for plotting purposes, but Stan is finally putting together all the little clues that he’s noticed over the years but ignored because of his friendship with Philip. The biggest thing, of course, is the weird hours and absences. He had no way of seeing inside their house, but over the years he’s noticed them coming and going in the middle of the night all the time. That’s enough to make anybody suspicious of their neighbors, much less an FBI agent. Hearing Henry said that his parents just ditched him and Paige randomly with no babysitter or relative to call on is also suspicious because that’s simply not how typical suburban parents behave. Again, you don’t have to be an FBI agent to be alarmed at the thought that your neighbors are leaving their little kids left alone in the house overnight or even for days. That's just not normal. Then to hear that the Jennings have no relatives whatsoever, except for an aunt that only Paige has seen (maybe), is also weird. Granted, not as weird as leaving your little kids alone while you jaunt off in the middle of the night, but still, out of the norm. All these little things, combined with a case involving a white couple that reminded Stan of a similar experience when Elizabeth mysteriously wasn’t around, and combining that with William’s dying words about the happy couple with the pretty wife and couple of kids living the American dream… I can see why Stan’s suspicions were aroused again. He didn’t find anything from his quick search of their house, but he’s definitely thinking about all the little ways that the Jennings simply don’t add up, and that is dangerous. Any little clue now could lead him back to the Jennings. It could be something as small as a cigarette butt that Elizabeth dropped at the scene. We saw him looking at the butts she left at the house. It’s tiny clues like these combined with experience and intuition that make Stan dangerous to them. However that turns out is going to be sad because I think that Stan and Philip are genuinely friends, maybe the only real, non-work friends that each other has.